Lauren's Virtual World

Saturday, July 2, 2011

Simplicity 4669- T's Suit

I used a very loosely woven fabric. I almost didn’t buy it b/c it was so sheer and loosely woven. Plus it’s synthetic and my sample melted when I fused interfacing. But I wanted to make this suit for T for the longest and it was the only color scheme that I liked that was reasonably priced.

After washing the fabric fluffed out a little and wasn’t as sheer. I had to serge the edges before washing though to avoid a lot of unraveling. I then underlined it w/ Ambiance (I had it on hand and got a ridiculously good deal on it). I’m anti hand sewing- I avoid it whenever possible- so I attached the underling by machine. I just basted it around the edges, and then serged the edges, I really wanted to prevent unraveling. I left the hems open to accommodate any fabric shifting during sewing.

After washing and underling, this fabric completely changed. It was literally transformed into a beautiful boucle with amazing drape and body.

I didn’t really use much interfacing, I just used weft interfacing strips around the neckline, armholes, and front edge of the jacket before I attached the underlining.

After underlining, I just treated both fabrics as one. I stitched the seams on my machine and finished them with my serger.

The pattern calls for this jacket to be lined. Halfway through the project, I realized I forgot to consider how I would finish the front edge. I decided to just make a facing out of lining. The edges were secured to the inside with my machine blind stitch.

Inside Jacket:

Pattern Notes:

First off the rosette pictured on the envelop is not included. This is very misleading, esp. since it shows up in the tech sketch. There’s a lot of resources to make a flower rosette, but I decided to use the instructions in High Fashion Sewing Secrets. Claire Schaeffer hasn’t let me down yet.

Rosette:

I wanted the rosette to be removable but I wasn’t sure how to do it so I just used safety pins. Is that bad?

I also couldn’t get out of hand stitching for this. The instruction I used called for hand sewing a lining piece on the back to hide all the ugly edges.

Back of Rosette:

Skirt:

The skirt pattern sucked! What should have been the quickest skirt of my life turned into taking twice as long as it should have. This is one of those gored skirt patterns that have the f&b pieces the same. This does NOT work for women, but I thought ok, this might work for kids since they’re pretty straight (T does have a booty, though). Well it created a horrible shape! The skirt poofed out around the stomach under the waistband. It looked really bad with the bell shape of the skirt.

To fix this, I ended up taking 1/2” off each seam in the front (yes that much). The waist still bubbled out crazy. I then made the elastic flat in the front. I positioned it flat and secured it at the each front seam line. This finally worked! It was flat in the front and the give from the elastic was moved to the back. It ended up working great, but this was way too much work and tweaking for a kids skirt.

The Jacket:

The jacket pattern on the other hand, was great! There are bust darts (not sue why you need that for a kids pattern), but they were so small, I just shifted them out to the side seam. Worked fine. Everything worked well and fit great. I think I should’ve went up a size though for growing room, though.

I used a plain hook-n-eye closure instead of a tie.

I found this great textured ribbon trim that was exactly what I wanted at Hancock’s, thrown into a 50% off bin. I almost walked out without it b/c I didn’t even see it!

Now, I don’t know what I was thinking w/ this jacket. This was supposed to be a quick and easy project and it took a lot longer than I thought it would to. I guess I underestimated the work. I wouldn’t normally put this much work into a kids jacket.

Tank:

Finally, I just drafted a simple plain tank out of some poly/rayon/spandex jersey I had on hand that matched the ribbon and picked up on one of the colors in the boucle.

Tank with skirt:

Conclusion: I think this suit looks so cute on T. Great jacket pattern, but don’t bother with the skirt.

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About Me

I am currently a single, work at home mom who is passionate about sewing. I'm not too much of a fashionista, but everything about clothing fascinates me. I love to examine construction, fabric, fit, and more. Even if I'm not sewing or wearing fashion, I'm always studying it. This blog is a small virtual glimpse into my world.